Golden Ticket
by Paceismyhero
Summary: Finn/Puck friendship oneshot set right after "Funeral" episode in season 2. Hints of Finchel and underlying Puckleberry, but not really the focus. Short piece, so please read and review!


**Author's Note:** Where did this come from, you ask? Honestly, I'm not even sure. Glee's _Pure Imagination_ came out of my iTunes yesterday and thirty minutes later I was editing the final piece. I've never really done a drabble (if this counts as such; I don't even know), and I've certainly never done a friendship-type piece. It's also Finn's POV, which is even further out of my range because I totally don't write him well (thanks to Jann for going through the pre-screening and making sure it didn't suck too terribly bad. You rock, sista-friend).

So, with all that said, please let me know what you think (good or bad). Thank you!

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><p>Finn leaned forward, his foot heavy on the brake pedal, and moved the gear shift from drive to park with a bit more effort than he typically needed. He felt totally and utterly drained, and he wasn't even sure why he ended up in the McKinley High School parking lot instead of home. It had been a long day, and he hadn't eaten since breakfast this morning with Kurt and his mom. And, sure, he'd had probably enough to sustain an average human for a full day or so, but typically he ate at least five times a day (okay, eight).<p>

Then again, typically his stomach wasn't completely in knots.

Finn sighed, pushing against the heavy metal door of his truck and sort of falling out of the cab until his feet hit the ground. He shuffled toward the football field, his mind still a clouded mess as he did so. It was weird, especially since he didn't even know Sue's sister, but the funeral really got to him. He hadn't been to his dad's funeral, but any death sort of reminded him of it. It sucked that his dad died, but Finn was sort of grateful that he didn't know him; that had to be way better than Sue losing her sister, who she clearly loved and had known and taken care of her whole life.

He pushed the flimsy gate open, not expecting it to be locked. It never was, and he knew this because even though going home and sleeping until Monday would have been awesome, he always came here whenever he just wanted some time to think. There was something about sitting on the top bleacher, staring down at the empty football field below and the mostly clear sky above that managed to give Finn some perspective. And he _definitely_ needed some of that tonight.

Everything was spiraling out of control, which didn't make any damn sense considering everything he'd done was to put everything back in order. _That _also didn't make any sense, either. It had back at the beginning of the year, when … well, when everything had spiraled out of control. He figured it was all a sign that he hadn't dealt with everything that happened the year before. Like there was some lesson he was meant to learn from everything that happened sophomore year and he couldn't move on until he learned it.

"Hey."

Finn looked up from his feet as the ascended the bleachers, seeing Puck sitting in the spot he'd planned on taking. The two had buried the hammer (or whatever that stupid expression was) for like the hundredth time since they'd started being friends, but Finn still sighed at Puck's position. Seriously, did the guy have to take _everything_ of Finn's?

"What are you doing here?"

Puck shrugged, his eyes moving out toward the empty field. "Just thinkin'."

Finn bobbed his head, his gaze refocusing on his shoes. He stuffed his hands into his letterman jacket, which he'd put on in place of his nice coat just so he didn't feel completely pathetic. Puck wasn't even wearing a coat, his tie loosened and hanging crooked around his neck. His arms were spread wide across the top level of the bleachers, his legs crossed and his feet propped up on another level about four rows down. His head fell back to rest flat on the top bleacher, his eyes on the stars, and Finn found himself looking up, too.

"Q texted me."

Finn sighed heavily, eventually just taking a seat. His posture wasn't nearly as casual as Puck's, his elbows resting on his knees while he stuffed his head into his hands. Breaking up with Quinn had been the right thing to do, as what he'd learned from trying to figure out what happened sophomore year was that they just weren't meant to be together. It was really weird, but she expected way too much out of him while not expecting anything of him. She wanted him to be the perfect boyfriend, but it didn't matter if those qualities she required weren't who he wanted to be.

But he _did_ love her. She had been his first real girlfriend, and she'd taught him a lot about girls. Not all of it had been good, but even at seventeen he knew he'd think back to certain things and inwardly thank her for saving his ass. So breaking up kind of sucked. He didn't want to hurt her and considering how she'd left and what he knew she was capable of, he _really_ didn't want her to hurt him. But, it wasn't like … a choice. He couldn't go on being her boyfriend when everything inside him was pulling him toward another girl.

"Does she hate me?"

"Nah," Puck shook his head. "She hates herself. Always has."

Finn thought about Puck's words, not finding any solace in them but sadly finding some truth. Rachel had told him once that the people who didn't talk a lot usually knew the most about other people, and she was probably thinking of Puck when she said it. The dude used the whole strong, silent type thing to his advantage, but he clearly paid attention. He couldn't charm his way into so many girls' pants without knowing at least one thing about how they ticked. And with girls it was all about individual traits. The way Finn treated Quinn was _definitely _not the way to treat Rachel, and visa versa for different reasons.

Example: The damn corsage. Match her eyes? Seriously?

"And yet you slept with her."

"Of course I did." Puck scoffed. "Girls who hate themselves are the easiest to sleep with." He smirked, moving his gaze over to his friend. "They can't realize until later how much they hate me."

"You're an ass," Finn grumbled, pouting even more when Puck just laughed.

"I'm done apologizing for it, man."

"What about Rachel?"

Puck's amusement faded, his expression growing completely serious even though he tried to lessen it with a casual shrug. "That I ain't so sorry for."

Finn managed a snarl in response, but couldn't do much else after the day he had. Instead, adding anger to the already full crapbag of emotions, he simply slouched down to lie flat on the bleacher, his eyes focused on the sky. It was quiet between the two boys for a long moment, the only sounds coming from the train station a few miles away and the random cars going down the side road by the school.

"If you like her so much, why didn't you go after her after we broke up?"

"Berry and I ain't ever gonna work out."

"Why?" He growled, his head turning on the cool metal to look up and over at his friend. "Because she won't put out?"

Puck smirked, reclining even more (if that were possible). "She's a lot less of a prude than you think."

"You really are an ass," Finn reiterated, this time not surprised when Puck laughed off the insult.

"Dude, it's 'cause she's still hung up on you."

Despite the emotional rollercoaster that he'd gone through today, Finn felt hope sear through him. "Really?" He hinged his torso forward, one of his legs swinging off the bleacher. "I saw you guys left together. Did she, like, say anything about me?"

Puck rolled his eyes. "Yea. Chick died and all, but Rachel managed to reaffirm her love for you while drying her eyes." He shook his head, going back to watching the sky. "Legit. If ya want her back, ya better act fast 'cause St. Jackass is sniffin' her flower somethin' fierce."

Unconsciously, Finn's fists clenched. "She wouldn't go back to him. Not after what he did."

"'Cause what he did was so much worse than what you did?"

Finn knitted his eyebrows in confusion. What had he done? Except … string her along for an entire year just to drop her at every chance he could. And never stick up for her even when they were together. Blabber on and on about honesty being important, then not just lie to her about the whole Santana thing but dump her for telling him the truth about Puck. Break her heart. Move right on to Quinn before the wounds were even healed. Punch her prom date even though he was with someone else.

Yeah, what had he done?

"Ya think she'll ever forgive me?"

Puck groaned. "I dunno." He sat up, mimicking Finn's position from earlier as he propped his feet on the lower bleacher and used his hands to rub his face. "But ya gotta try 'cause she's like … you're fuckin' golden ticket out of this place."

The corners of Finn's mouth twitched up, amusement in his eyes. He already wasn't sure he'd ever be able to watch that movie again without thinking of this day, and now Puck had to go flip everything on his head by giving it even more meaning in his life. It wasn't that he hated Lima, but Finn wanted more out of his life. Something better. And he never used to believe he could accomplish those things. Not until Rachel.

His golden ticket.

"If we're done with the girl talk, ya wanna go to the diner for a burger?"

"Totally." Finn grinned, nodding his head before standing up along with Puck. "I haven't eaten in forever."

"So what, like, an hour?"

Both boys chuckled, but Finn still tried to push Puck down the metal stairs. "Ass."


End file.
